ABSTRACT
A chemical sensor is a device that transforms chemical information, ranging from the concentration of a specic sample component to total composition analysis, into an analytically useful signal. Chemical sensors usually contain two basic components connected in series: a chemical recognition element (“receptor”) and a physicochemical transducer. The biological recognition system translates the chemical information (i.e., concentration of the analyte) into a chemical or physical output signal. The transducer (i.e., a physical detection system) serves to transfer the signal from the output domain of the recognition element to the electrical, optical, piezoelectric domain, and so on. A biosensor is a self-contained integrated device which is capable of providing specic quantitative analytical information using a biological recognition element (e.g., enzymes, antibodies, natural receptors, cells, etc.) which is retained in direct spatial contact with a transduction element.
